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Broncos' Decker trending up in offense

WR finished with 44 receptions last season

By Jeff Legwold The Denver Post

Posted:
11/07/2012 10:59:54 PM MST

Updated:
11/07/2012 11:00:06 PM MST

This may be the first of Eric Decker's three seasons in the NFL when he is on track to be all he can be as a wide receiver. His 46 receptions and seven touchdowns lead the Broncos, and his seven scores have come over the past five games.

He's doing this after carrying a large question mark while recovering from a left foot injury when he arrived in Denver in 2010 as a third-round draft pick.

"It wasn't until my second year here in Denver, I started to feel good, had my strength, that I wasn't thinking about it, it wasn't hurting after practice," Decker said. "It was about a year and a half after the injury."

The injury ended Decker's final season at Minnesota and pushed him down, or off, some team's draft boards. Decker had suffered a Linsfranc injury -- a fracture or dislocation of the small bones in the mid foot -- in the fifth game of his senior season with the Gophers, a season he still finished as his team's leader in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns.

It's an injury that can be notoriously tricky to treat and recover from, especially at a position where speed and quickness are at a premium. Decker still was recovering when the Broncos made him the 87th pick of the draft, was still recovering through a rookie year when he made six catches and was still trying to regain his form as his second NFL season opened in 2011.

"Reading studies (after a surgery), there was mixed results as far as people coming back or not coming back," Decker said.

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"It was something obviously on my mind, but I knew that I couldn't control that, so what I had to do was key in on my rehab and making sure I was doing what the doctors told me to do, what the training staff told me to do and just focus on that."

He had a difficult rookie season. "You try to find your way with a new team, try to establish yourself, (but you've) got the foot injury and I'm definitely not as strong then, not as fast, afraid I'm going to hurt it, a lot of things."

He finished with 44 receptions last season as he felt better with each passing week. However, 30 of the catches came before the Broncos went to a read-option offense with Tim Tebow at quarterback. Decker had only 14 receptions over the Broncos' final nine games.

This season, good health, a future Hall of Famer at quarterback in Peyton Manning and the new offensive playbook that came with him have converged for a possible 1,000-yard season for Decker.

With half a season to play, Decker's 16 career touchdowns in his first three seasons with the Broncos are more than any player the team has signed as a rookie.

"Right now, I see a big body, a big athlete, a good football player, a smart football player, who understands what Peyton is looking for, what he's looking at," said Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera. "I think any time you have that rapport with a quarterback and a receiver, you can have that success."

Decker was one of the regulars who participated in workouts with Manning after Manning signed in Denver and before the players were allowed to practice at the team's Dove Valley complex. Manning has tried to work as often as possible, in as many situations as possible, with all of the Broncos' receivers to build the rapport necessary to make the offense work.

Over the course of the season's first half, Manning has targeted Decker a team-leading 69 times with Thomas just behind that at 65. The two also lead all receiving duos in the league with a combined 1,339 yards -- 756 for Thomas and 583 for Decker.

"Experience is your best teacher," Manning said. "You learn what certain guys like as a receiver, how his body moves, when he's going to come out of a break. The more repetitions the better."

"I think, obviously, all the work you do -- individually, extra, as a team -- has paid off," Decker said. "Peyton grabs everybody, and we all work on it together. That's something that's finally paying off. I think any relationship, whether it's a significant other or a teammate, the more time it gets, it helps."

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